Ava DuVernay Documentary Set To Open New York Film Festival

The filmmaker’s project "The 13th" is set to open the festival.

Ava DuVernay continues to prove why she is one of the busiest women in Hollywood these days: The filmmaker’s new documentary, The 13th, is set to open the New York Film Festival.

Ava apparently loves to spoil her audience and fans, because in addition to bringing us the highly anticipated OWN network TV series Queen Sugar, which will premiere this fall, she is also planning to debut her documentary that has been given the honor of opening one of the most prestigious film festivals in the country.

Shadow and Act has all the details surrounding the documentary and its premiere. If the Selma director’s latest project is anything like her prior works, audiences are in for a real treat.

New York Film Festival Director and Selection Committee Chair explained why Ava’s film was chosen as the opening piece, stating, “While I was watching ‘The 13th,’ the distinction between documentary and fiction gave way and I felt like I was experiencing something so rare: direct contact between the artist and right now, this very moment. In fact, Ava is actually trying to redefine the terms on which we discuss where we’re at, how we got here, and where we’re going. ‘The 13th’ is a great film. It’s also an act of true patriotism.”

Gracious and humble, Ava gave a statement regarding her feelings about receiving such a distinguished honor. She said, “It is a true honor for me and my collaborators to premiere ‘The 13th’ as the opening night selection of the New York Film Festival. This film was made as an answer to my own questions about how and why we have become the most incarcerated nation in the world, how and why we regard some of our citizens as innately criminal, and how and why good people allow this injustice to happen generation after generation. I thank Kent Jones and the selection committee for inviting me to share what I’ve learned.”

The 13th also has the distinction of being the very first nonfiction film to open the festival and will open theatrically in a limited run on October 7, which will be immediately followed by its debut on the streaming service Netflix. The New York Film Festival runs from September 30 to October 16.

A brief synopsis of the film is below:

The film chronicles the history of racial inequality in the United States, examining how the country has produced the highest rate of incarceration in the world, with the majority of those imprisoned being African-American. The title of the film refers to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.